What does it mean to be Still Speaking Truth to Power in 2025?
The fear, anger, and chaos of this year can feel overwhelming. Yet, as we prepare to gather in November for FCNL’s Annual Meeting, we are reminded that our vision for peace and justice is clearer and brighter than the turmoil around us.
When we asked Friends in FCNL’s network how this theme speaks to them, here’s what we heard. Share your reflections by emailing us at quakers@fcnl.org.
“My work with FCNL helps to keep me hopeful in an increasingly bleak political landscape. It’s encouraging to work with Friends from across the country on goals for the common good, to feel that sense of solidarity that comes from our shared vision of the world we seek. To my surprise, I find I’ve become an activist!”
– Jane Hiles, Birmingham (AL) Friends Meeting (SAYMA)
“We think of FCNL… as people who can help bring about that kind of work on Capitol Hill. Helping bring about compromise and helping bring about dialogue in a respectful and hopeful way, and a listening way. So to me, that’s what FCNL’s purpose and mission still is.”
– Joan VanSickle Sloan, Maryville Friends Church (TN), Wilmington Yearly Meeting
Every year, Annual Meeting galvanizes the strength of our community through worship, advocacy, and connection.
“It is, for me, easier to stand tall with a group than to stand up alone… Annual Meeting offers me inspiration and hope. And it shows me I am not standing alone.”
– John Deikis, Ann Arbor Friends Meeting (MI), Lake Erie Yearly Meeting
“Annual Meeting is always an inspiration for me. Hearing from Friends around the country how their advocacy is well-received by the public and by elected officials helps me keep up the resolve to continue the work in my community.”
– Tom Rawson, Lopez Island Friends Meeting (WA), North Pacific Yearly Meeting
And our worship leader this year reflected on the undercurrent of stillness which runs through our gathering together.
“I have been thinking about the word ‘Still’ in our theme: Still Speaking Truth to Power. Still is an active word in two directions. Still, as in continuing-persevering-persisting. And, Still, as in alertly paused or even intensely present not unlike the heron who gazes into the pool waiting for the water to ripple. What does it mean for our speech to come from that persistent and also grounded space – ready, acutely attentive and yearning for the whole of creation? I come to Annual Meeting to be rooted with others in this focused stillness. I trust that we will be curious, open and guided together. I trust in the persistent power of our collective stilled Spoken Truth.”
- Mary Lou Hatcher, North Sandwich Friends Meeting (NH), New England Yearly Meeting
You can meet Jane, Tom, John, Mary Lou, Joan, and Friends from around the country virtually this Nov. 14-16 at Annual Meeting—register today to claim your spot.
